A narrow Fellow in the Grass

'A narrow Fellow in the Grass': context

'A narrow Fellow in the Grass' was written by Emily Dickinson in 1865 and was one of the few poems published during her lifetime. By 1865, Dickinson (then aged 35) had become a recluse and spent much of her time in her family home. The poem was published in 1866 in the Springfield Republican (a newspaper local to Dickinson) with a series of changes made, including titling the poem 'The Snake'.

Historical context

Emily Dickinson's family were Calvinists (a denomination of Christian Protestantism) and she was raised during the Second Great Awakening. This was a movement that occurred throughout early nineteenth-century America and centred on a Protestant revival. Although Emily Dickinson herself would ultimately reject religion, its effects are still present in her poetry. Snakes have a Biblical association as it is the form the devil took when he tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden. As this is a central moment in the Bible, it may have influenced Dickinson's views on deceit and how it is represented.

Literary context

At the time Emily Dickinson composed 'A narrow Fellow in the Grass', Romantic literature had begun to gain traction in America. The American version of Romanticism emphasised the power of nature and the universe, as well as the importance of individuality. Dickinson, alongside her contemporaries, Walt Whitman and Ralph Waldo Emerson, were key figures in this movement. During this period, Dickinson focused on the impact that nature can have on the mind, and this is seen in her poem 'A narrow Fellow in the Grass'. Dickinson uses Romanticism to play with the image of the snake presented in the Bible, as the animal comes to personify human deception.

Emily Dickinson's 'A narrow Fellow in the Grass'

Below is the poem 'A narrow Fellow in the Grass' in full.

'A narrow Fellow in the Grass': summary

'A narrow Fellow in the Grass' focuses on a speaker who is recollecting the experience they had when they saw a snake as a child. The poem is used to further describe both the danger of nature and provide a commentary on deceit and fear.

Fig. 1 - Although the animal is not mentioned explicitly in the poem 'A narrow Fellow in the Grass' can you guess what it is?

'A narrow Fellow in the Grass': structure

The poem's structure consists of six quatrains with alternating iambic tetrameter and trimeter.

Form

While there is no set form to this poem (such as a sonnet or ode), there are many traits in the poem that are common in much of Dickinson's poetry. The poem features quatrains of common meter and is written with an ABCB rhyme scheme - two elements that are found in many of her poetry.

Rhyme and meter

'A narrow Fellow in the Grass' uses an ABCB rhyme scheme throughout the poem, where many of the 'B' rhymes are slanted.

For example, 'rides' is a slant rhyme with the word 'is'. The lack of pure rhyme in the beginning of the poem signifies the unease the speaker feels around the snake.

The poem's only pure (or perfect) rhymes occur in the last two stanzas, for example in the last stanza where 'mee' rhymes with 'Cordiality'.

The presence of pure rhyme here shows how the speaker feels more calm when he refers to other animals.

The poet uses the common meter (lines alternate between eight and six syllables and are always written in an iambic pattern) for the first two stanzas of the poem. Common meter is frequently seen in both Romantic poetry and Christian hymns.

Dickinson then changes this meter following the second stanza. From the third stanza until the sixth, the poem is written in solely iambic trimester instead.

Many of these lines end with an extra unstressed syllable (known as a feminine ending).

The use of a feminine ending in the poem helps represent the breathlessness the speaker feels when the snake scares him. It can also be used to replicate the constricting method of killing some snakes use on their prey, as the meter also leaves the reader without breath.

'A narrow Fellow in the Grass': literary devices

The main literary devices used in 'A narrow Fellow in the Grass' poem are alliteration, personification, juxtaposition, enjambment, dashes, and caesuras. Dickinson employs vivid and precise imagery to describe the snake and its movements, creating a sense of both allure and unease. The poem's central metaphor of the snake serves as a symbol of the hidden forces and beauty of the natural world, while also evoking feelings of trepidation and respect. Dickinson's use of dashes and enjambment adds to the poem's sense of breathlessness and tension.

Alliteration

Throughout 'A narrow Fellow in the Grass', alliteration is used to mimic the movements of the snake. The repetition of the same letter creates a flow throughout the poem that replicates how the snake looks when it travels in the grass.

In the third stanza, there is a repetition of the letter 'c' with the words 'cool' and 'Corn' to create a smooth flow of words in the line. This is contrasted with the repetition of 'b' with 'Boy' and 'Barefoot' as this is more plosive and so does not flow as quickly as the previous alliteration. Dickinson does this to compare how the snake moves against how the human boy moves.

Personification

Personification is seen throughout 'A narrow Fellow in the Grass', as the snake is imagined as a 'Fellow'.

The personification of the snake has a specific Biblical allusion, as it can reference the Garden of Eden, where the devil disguised himself as a snake to tempt Eve to sin. The use of personification in this Biblical allusion allows Dickinson to make a comment on deceit that can be used in order to pose danger.

Juxtaposition

Dickinson uses juxtaposition to convey how the speaker feels about snakes when compared to other animals.

In the fifth stanza, the speaker states that he has affection for other animals he has interacted with; this is juxtaposed with his description of how he feels when he sees a snake. This is done to show the duality of nature, and that the speaker does not feel that all animals are a threat to him. Dickinson achieves this by making a clear distinction between the 'I' and 'they' (the animals the speaker likes) in stanza five vs 'this Fellow' (the snake) in stanza six.

The most obvious distance is made between the stanza break. But Dickinson furthers the distance between friendly nature and the dangerous snake through her use of pronouns. The fifth stanza interchanges the pronouns 'I' and 'them', and 'they', to show that the speaker is deeply connected to the animal world.

The speaker's feeling of peace with these animals is furthered through the rhyme of 'me' and cordiality'. When the speaker focuses on the snake in the final stanza, these personal pronouns are then absent, showing the distance the speaker is putting between himself and the creature.

Dashes and caesuras

One of the most recognisable features of Emily Dickinson's poetry is her use of dashes. Dickinson uses dashes to create caesuras in the lines of poetry and also to add pauses to the end of some lines. In 'A narrow Fellow in the Grass', dashes are used to mimic the pattern that the snake cuts in the grass. Here, the pauses represent the moments that the snake travels and disappears.

Enjambment

Dickinson contrasts her use of dashes and caesuras with her use of enjambment. Here, enjambment is used to replicate the body of a snake, as one line flows into the next in a similar way to how a snake's body moves across the ground.

Speaker

The speaker in 'A narrow Fellow in the Grass' is describing a snake and the fear that the animal brings him. After a tense encounter with a snake as a child, the speaker is now attempting to convey to the readers a description of the animal and why it scares him.

Tone

The speaker's childhood interaction with the snake shapes how tone is used in the poem. The snake scared the speaker as a child and this fear continues into adulthood; for this reason, the tone of the poem is anxious and fearful, as the speaker looks at the snake with both awe and caution.

'A narrow Fellow in the Grass': figurative language & imagery

Let's look at some of the figurative language in the poem.

Natural imagery

In 'A narrow Fellow in the Grass' natural imagery is used to both describe the snake as well as describe how the snake can be a representation of deceit and fear. Dickinson uses the imagery of nature to depict how the speaker views the snake and its movements. This imagery helps the reader to understand how the speaker sees the animal.

Whips

Dickinson also uses the imagery of a whip to describe the danger that the snake poses. The way the snake moves is similar to the cracking of a whip and this movement frightens the speaker. The imagery of a whip implies violence and so is used to convey the threat that the snake holds and why the speaker fears it.

'A narrow Fellow in the Grass': themes

The poem explores themes of nature, perception, and the mysterious presence of the natural world. Dickinson's vivid imagery and descriptive language create a sense of intimacy and tension, leaving the reader with a lingering impression of the encounter with the snake. The main themes explored in detail in 'A narrow Fellow in the Grass' are fear and nature.

Fear

Fear is the central theme of 'A narrow Fellow in the Grass' as the speaker attempts to explain why he fears snakes. However, the poem extends beyond just snakes into a wider discussion of fear and its link to disguise. Dickinson uses personification and metaphors to describe the snake as being something it is not. This is coupled with the fact that the word 'snake' is not mentioned at all in the poem. Perhaps this implies that while the snake is disguised, it still can cause fear in the speaker.

Nature

Dickinson uses 'A narrow Fellow in the Grass' to explore how nature can be both peaceful and friendly while also posing a threat to people. The speaker establishes that he has affection for other animals, showing that nature can be kind and peaceful. However, this is contrasted with the way the speaker feels fear towards the snake. This juxtaposition shows the duality that exists within nature, and why people should both love and fear it.